Bridgewater College became the first No. 6 seed to win the ODAC tournament when the Eagles edged No.1 seed Virginia Wesleyan, 57-56, to win the ODAC championship Sunday afternoon at the Salem Civic Center.

With the victory, the Eagles secured the ODAC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Eagles will find out their destination and first round opponent late Sunday night or early Monday morning.

The victory completed an improbable run to the title that saw the Eagles knock the No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 seed in consecutive games.

Sunday's championship game was tightly contested throughout with the biggest lead being seven points early in the second half by the Marlins.

The Eagles wiped out that seven-point deficit with an 8-0 run to take a 36-35 lead with 14:21 left in the game.

From that point the two teams were never separated by more than one possession until the 5:20 mark. Trailing by one Jessice Timberlake hit a 3-pointer to put the Eagles up by two and Rebecca Henderson added a short jumper, giving the Eagles a 53-49 lead.

The Marlins responded with layups by Tonia Jones and Bryttani Payton to tie the score at 53-53 with 3:08 left to play.

The Marlins regained the lead when Heather Phillips converted an offensive rebound into a three-point play, making the score 56-53 with 1:24 left in the game.

Timberlake hit two free throws to make it a one-point game and the Eagles regained possession when Henderson rebounded a missed shot with 59 seconds left.

Timberlake then gave the Eagles the lead when she hit a 12-footer just before the shot clock expired, putting the Eagles on top, 57-56.

Bridgewater then had to dodge a couple more opportunities by the Marlins.

Tonia Jones missed a jumper and Timberlake gathered in the rebound and was fouled with 5.9 seconds left to play. The Bridgewater senior missed the free throw and Virginia Wesleyan's Taylor Love grabbed the rebound, giving the Marlins one last chance.

Forced to go the length of the court, the Marlins navigated the distance and got the ball to Love who was open along the baseline. Her 15-footer at the buzzer glanced off the front of the rim, allowing the Eagles to escape with the one-point victory.

Jordan Burkholder and Timberlake scored 14 points each to lead a balanced attack. Henderson just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds. Kristin Bosserman added seven points and Nikki Sydnor added six points and eight boards.

Phillips scored 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Marlins. Jones scored 16 points and Maggie Smith finished with 15.

Burkholder was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammates Timberlake and Bosserman.

With the victory, the Eagles are now 15-13 on the season while the Marlins drop to 22-6.